Starting out with the dogs

Hey all,
So we started doing actual fieldwork yesterday. Got up around 8:30, loaded traps onto the trucks, and made prairie dog bait (oats rolled in peanut butter). We then went out to some of the plots and laid down traps. It was sort of crazy to see the warning signs telling you to keep out because of plague. We then laid down 10 each on each plot. It was really windy and started getting hot - there are big temperature variations here during the day. It gets around 40 at night and in the 90s in the afternoon. One of the trucks got stuck in the mud and we had to push it out - it was ridiculous! Mud everywhere. Overall, the plots weren't too muddy as long as you were careful about where you stepped. Not as many cacti as I expected, and we didn't run into any rattlesnakes - but I saw a couple of dead prairie dogs on a one of the plots (not a good sign - this usually means a plague death). We then watched an Animal Planet video on prairie dogs and pretty much hung out for the rest of the day.

There isn't a whole lot to do here, but actually a little more than I expected. There are a couple of small bars in town, but people say that they get kind of sketchy at night. A lot of people from the reservations nearby come and stay there for a long time, and it gets kind of depressing. There is a little inn called the Budget Inn Hotel and Suites that is a sort of cafe/lounge/inn place where you can get internet. The wireless we were getting in our RVs isn't working anymore - I think the guy who had it must have driven away or something. The badlands absolutely gorgeous though - I went running this afternoon and just starting at them off in the distance was awe-inspiring.

Today we went into Rapid City to do some shopping, which is about 1.5 hours away. That took up most of the afternoon. The morning was spent doing paperwork and safety training stuff - learning about the signs of the plague and stuff like that. Apparently it is very treatable with simple antibiotics (yeah penicillin!) It was nice to go into town, though. Rapid City isn't huge, but it has grocery stores and movie theaters and a Wal-Mart. More than we have here :). Everyone I am working with seems pretty cool - most people are from the east coast, but some from the west as well. I think I'm going to have a good summer here - what is especially nice is our work schedule is 10 days on and 4 days off, so there will be chances to take trips and get away for a bit throughout the months. I am hoping to visit a few new states if I get the chance.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone else's summer is going well!